Chefs and head cooks job market in Georgia
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Georgia industry employment changed 0.7 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Chefs and head cooks in Georgia.
Occupation pay
What Chefs and head cooks earn in Georgia
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$66,230Georgia- Middle 50% of published wages
- $50,220 – $90,350
- U.S. median annual wage
- $62,470
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around Georgia
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Chefs and head cooks, compared with the Georgia median of $66,230.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$74,660+12.7% vs. state
Gainesville, GA$70,780+6.9% vs. state
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC$68,070+2.8% vs. state
Warner Robins, GA$67,530+2.0% vs. state
Dalton, GA$66,090−0.2% vs. state
Savannah, GA$63,700−3.8% vs. state
View 6 more published metro areas
Chattanooga, TN-GA$63,690−3.8% vs. state
Columbus, GA-AL$62,920−5.0% vs. state
Brunswick-St. Simons, GA$61,600−7.0% vs. state
Albany, GA$59,540−10.1% vs. state
Athens-Clarke County, GA$50,330−24.0% vs. state
Macon-Bibb County, GA$50,080−24.4% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Georgia median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Georgia’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 32,685 represented establishments, 84.3% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for chefs and head cooks in Georgia
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
Chefs and head cooks account for 0.58 times their national share of employment in Georgia, according to OEWS May 2025. This is the published location quotient. The state estimate is 3,680 jobs, 1.8% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.75 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. Concentration describes employment share, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Leisure and hospitality has the largest positive weighted contribution
Leisure and hospitality supplies 87.0% of the positive weighted contributions to this occupation's industry employment-growth proxy in Georgia in January to March 2026. Its own year-over-year employment change was +1.5%. Each leading industry group is weighted by its share of the occupation's national industry mix, and the groups examined cover 96.5% of that mix. These contributions do not count occupation jobs created.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPay differs widely between metro areas
Looking across 11 metro areas with published estimates on the same basis reveals a substantial pay range associated with Georgia. In OEWS May 2025, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA's median of $74,660 is 49.1% higher than Macon-Bibb County, GA's median of $50,080. This comparison covers nominal wages, without assessing living costs or job availability.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSMetro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.
Published median pay is above the U.S. median
Georgia's published median annual wage for chefs and head cooks is 6.0% above the national median in OEWS May 2025. The state estimate is $66,230, compared with $62,470 across the U.S. These medians are not adjusted for living costs and do not describe every worker.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSIndustry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
Georgia industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Georgia · 2026 Q1+1.3%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.6%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Georgia | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +2.8% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | +1.2% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | +1.4% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | +0.9% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | +0.4% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | +1.1% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | +1.0% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | +1.3% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Georgia’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- +0.6%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Chefs and head cooks Work
The occupation mix determines which Georgia industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure and hospitality | 83.4% | +1.5% | 32,685 | $581 |
| Private education and health services | 6.0% | +2.9% | 42,405 | $1,358 |
| Other services | 2.4% | -0.3% | 24,099 | $1,021 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 1.8% | -1.0% | 69,859 | $1,363 |
| Professional and business services | 1.8% | -0.1% | 87,069 | $2,114 |
| State and local | 1.2% | +0.8% | 6,775 | $1,162 |
Which industries are growing?
3 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Georgia employment change are listed.
- Private education and health services+2.9%
- Leisure and hospitality+1.5%
- State and local+0.8%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Georgia context
Current Georgia Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Georgia. They are not Chefs and head cooks demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Georgia
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 114.11 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 114.38 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 114.51 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 114.38 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 113.65 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 114.31 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 114.93 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 116.46 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 117.85 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 118.71 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 118.89 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 119.01 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 117.21 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 117.14 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Statewide layoff notices
Statewide WARN notices
Georgia statewide20 notices in this source
Notice dates from Aug 4, 2026 to Nov 1, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.
What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in Georgia’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.
Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.
Technical College System of Georgia (WorkSource Georgia) About WARN data
Source last checked
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Chefs and head cooks in Georgia FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Chefs and head cooks in Georgia?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Georgia industries weighted to Chefs and head cooks changed +1.3% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.6% nationwide.
Are wages for Chefs and head cooks rising in Georgia?
QCEW does not publish pay for Chefs and head cooks in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.5% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Georgia industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Chefs and head cooks openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Chefs and head cooks
- SOC code
- 35-1011
- State
- Georgia
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +1.3%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- +0.6%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +0.7 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +1.1%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +2.5%State data coverage 100%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/chefs-and-head-cooks/georgia#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.